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Appendix I
Biomass

The economic competitiveness of short-rotation woody crop (SRWC) systems in the United States varies widely depending on a large number of factors such as end-product use, product price, conversion technology, yields, and land costs.1 Such SRWC systems are considered to be economically viable for production of a stable, secure supply of wood for pulp under some conditions, as evidenced by recent increased interest in these systems by several pulp and paper companies. There are several million acres in the United States on which production of wood for energy feedstocks could be viable today, without subsidies, if there was a market for the wood.

A survey of the literature shows a range of $494 to $780 per hectare in anticipated establishment costs, where establishment includes all site preparation, planting, and weed competition control activities that are necessary to ensure good establishment and survival (Table I.1). The lowest cost per hectare of $494 is very similar to the average cost of establishing loblolly pines in plantations in the Southeast on cropland. It would be relatively rare, however, for the minimal site preparation efforts described by the North Carolina State University (NCSU) Hardwood-Industry Cooperative (Table I.1) to be sufficient to ensure good establishment and survival of hardwood energy crops. Such minimal establishment activity would likely lead to considerable weed competition. Some trees such as sweetgum might survive but exhibit slower growth during the first few years. The estimate provided by Strauss and Wright (1990) of $621 per hectare for establishment of hybrid poplars was developed by obtaining a consensus of several economists and silviculturalists associated with the Short Rotation Woody Crops Program.

Sensitivity analyses have shown that energy crop production costs are most sensitive to yield per hectare, with harvesting costs being the second